Love, Lies and Fireworks
by girlo
Summary: Seto and Jou have never been friends, but when Mokuba needs a favour, will their worlds be turned upsidedown? The safe bet is yes. Oh, and there's some mature stuff in here now, just to warn you all.
1. Business boys

Hello all. Please not that this is my first attempt at a fanfiction and that my Yu-Gi-Oh knowledge is lacking, so please be kind. Also, I in no way profit from Yu-Gi-oh in any way shape or form. Now, relax and try to enjoy!

He had originally come for business. It was just that he had got caught up along the way. Well, to be fair, his companion had gotten caught up as well, so they decided to try their business venture another time, but certainly not at another place

It had started easy enough. Each party had a specified job in mind: employer and employee. Simple. A contract could be written up and the deal would be set to start the very next day, if all went well. It was just that theory was so much easier then practice.

They knew it would be loud in this club, it always was. For them it was part of the appeal. It was hard to talk, but chances were no one was listening to you anyway, and if they were, half of what they heard would be music lyrics. Truly it was an ideal place to do business.

The two young men sat down a booth to wait for their third party to show up so they could start discussing business. They had been waiting for not even five minutes when the music in the club cut out. Puzzled noises were heard from other patrons and our two young men were instantly on edge. What was going on?

A voice boomed from speakers on every wall. "Sorry about that everyone, but a favorite is here tonight and we just had to see him dance! So glue those eyes to the stage and enjoy!"

Regulars to the bar would know there was only one dancer favored enough to have the music completely cut out in the club and looked to the stage with anticipation. But our business boys were not regulars. They only ventured in on occasion, so this announcement just put them more on edge.

A heavy base beat filled the club. It was dance worthy techno, the kind that could get even the most uptight person to tap their foot. Every person in the club was moving in time with the music. Well, almost every person. One wasn't, and he just happened to be one of our business boys. He barely noticed the music; his mind was entirely focused on the stage in front of him. The stages one spot-light was trained on the lithe form of a dancer who was holding onto a pole and moving his leather-clad hips in time with the base beat of the song. His tight, leather clad hips. His tight, leather shorts, clad hips. Yes, one could easily get used to watching that backside.

A blush spread over our business boys face. If his companion had seen him gawking just then, he'd never hear the end of it. But luckily, the other boy was talking up a waitress and not paying attention to anything that wasn't her bust. Relieved by this bit of information, our boy turned back to the stage.

He was glad to see he hadn't missed anything in the few seconds he was turned away. Those delicious hips were still swinging those tight buns back and fourth, just with more vigor now. And then the dancing figure swiveled, so both hands were grasping the pole. The dancer moved closer and closer to the pole, swaying seductively the whole time. He kept staring straight at the pole, and even though our business boy was watching from a side perspective, he felt the whole dance was for him. It was then, and only then, that our business boy took in the rest of the dancers outfit. He had been focusing only on the leather shorts before, but now that his mind was taking in the dancer in his entirety, he could see the boy was also wearing thigh high, tight black leather boots which left about three inches of perfect skin, until the favored shorts were in view again. Then above the low shorts was a vest, or what appeared to be a vest. In actuality it seemed to be belts held together with a mesh material at the front, where the back was more of that delicious black leather. As accessories he wore thick leather bracelets on each wrist, a leather collar, and, most peculiar of all, a thin mask that disguised his identity.

The masked dancer was in his groove now. It was fairly obvious that he had done this sort of thing before. The twists, the turns, the rubbing against the cold metal pole were all done with practiced ease, but still, it didn't seem as though it was a set routine for the dancing youth. In fact, it seemed as though the dancer had never heard the music that was playing before in his life. The way he was moving made him seem boneless, and very desirable.

Our business boy was now having an incredibly hard time thinking of anything. He had been unaware that a human body could move like that. When the saw the dancer flatten a leg against the pole, so he was doing the splits while standing, a shiver ran through him. The idea of anyone being that flexible made his mouth got dry. His mind was suddenly working overtime, sending him endless images of a certain "arch-nemesis" doing those moves in some sort of private, naked meeting.

The images in his head coupled with the lithe dancer in front of him sent a spark or recognition to his over stimulated brain of our now drooling business boy. He had seen those hips before somewhere, swaying deliciously, teasingly in front of him. Not quite to the extent they were doing now, of course. And he dimly recalled it that if he had been caught watching before, he'd have been in for the beating of his life. There was something forbidden about those hips.

Realization hit him like a train.

Of course he had seen them, he's practically memorized them in all their clothed beauty. He was sure they were the overly–watched-to-the-extent-of-stocking buns of his rival. His body and mind were reacting the same way they did whenever the so-called hated boy was around. Yes, he was prepared to bet every penny he had that the masked dancer was none other then Seto Kaiba. Of course, if he lost the bet, he'd only be losing about 84 dollars, but he was here to change that.

He and Honda were trying to get part time jobs as waiters here. It was a rather new place, but it already had a firm set of regulars. It was more a bar then a club, but there was a dance floor and a small stage with a pole in the center. And now Jou wanted to work there even more. It wasn't just that he now needed to know why Kaiba was pole dancing on that small stage. He also like the music they played and the customers seemed really friendly, but mainly, it was the Kaiba thing.

Jou sent his focus back up to the stage and to Kaiba. He would wonder about why Kaiba was pole dancing in some small bar some other time. When Kaiba wasn't pole dancing in some bar, for example.

When the song ended, the stage went black. Jou jumped up to chase after Kaiba when he realized something was different. Honda was no longer sitting in the booth. Jou instantly in a panic feared the worst. He would never forgive himself if his best friend had been kidnapped while Kaiba mesmerized him. After running around franticly for a moment, Jou found Honda dancing with the waitress. By that time however, Kaiba had managed to slip out of the Club and Jou would have to wait the whole weekend to confront him. Sighing, he left the bar and headed for home, completely forgetting the reason he had come in the first place.

There, done. Review please! I really would appriciate any suggestions on how to make it better. I have the second chapter written, just not typed up… heh heh heh….


	2. Jou's weekend

Thank you for reviews! I love them! It makes me feel so nice. Here is the second chapter. It's shorter, I know. Oh well.

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Jou resisted the urge to go back to the club that weekend for two reasons. One was that Honda was out of town for the weekend, for a family gathering of some kind, and they had promised each other they would apply for the jobs together. The second reason was much more prominent in his mind. He was afraid that if he were to see the CEO doing that dance again, he'd pounce and ravish him.

Jou had spent the better part of Saturday trying to convince himself that it had not been Kaiba dancing, just some look alike. A very convincing one. This plan, of course, failed miserably. He had stared wishfully at that ass one to many times not to recognize it instantly.

On Saturday night, he was terrified that if he went out, he'd end up at that bar again, so he opted for watching TV. He hoped the mindless sitcoms would help keep his mind off the brunet. This plan worked for almost two hours, until a news update announcing a long-awaited deal Kaiba corp. was involved with had just come to pass after months of negotiations, had finally come to pass. The update featured a stunning picture of Kaiba in a business suit. Seeing him like that reminded Jou just how he could look when that pole was taken out of his ass so he could move so fluidly. These memories got Jou so aroused that even the bag of frozen peas he put on his lap failed to completely solve his problem.

When he finally managed to get to sleep, he had incredibly vivid dreams that not only replayed every second of Kaibas dance with startling accuracy, but also added every bit of pale CEO skin Jou had ever seen. This included such highlights as: the lightly muscled, but very strong bare chest, he had once seen in the showers after last period gym, when he taller boy thought everyone was gone for the day, his shapely, yet still masculine legs, from the same incident and the time Jou had snuck a peek in the washroom and got to see a very different part of Kaibas front. Anything he had never seen was filled in by Jou's very over active imagination. Needless to say he had to change his bed sheets when he woke up, and then take a very long, cold shower.

Dueling and doing homework at Yugis house occupied his Sunday afternoon, giving his brain a blissful break from thinking about Kaiba, but now he was home alone once more, and this time, not even bad sitcoms could distract him. It took everything he had in him to keep focused o "Happy fun hour with the Quiz lord" and not run straight to Kaibas mansion and demand to know why Kaiba had been pole dancing. And also ask for a repeat performance.

Yes, whenever the thoughts of Kaiba floated into Jou's head, they were followed by thought of wonder. Why on earth had Kaiba been pole dancing? It certainly wasn't that he needed the money; he was one of the richest guys on the continent. He thought it might have something to do with the man who adopted the Kaiba brothers. He'd heard stories of the terrible deeds that man had done, but he was dead now. He couldn't be forcing Moneybags to do anything from beyond the grave. The very idea of such an evil zombie forcing someone to do such a bizarre thing sent chills down Jous spine. He was able to reason with himself that that was probably not the case.

It was around midnight when Jou finally decided he knew the answer. He had been thinking it over as he tried to fall asleep when it hit him. Kaiba had just finished that big deal with those business guys. It must be something to do with them. Clearly, in order to finalize the deal, Kaiba needed to humiliate himself in some way. That was the only thing that even remotely seemed possible.

Now he felt a bit sorry for the all-powerful CEO. The deal must have been pretty important to him if he was willing to degrade himself on such a level. Even so, Jou was still very glad that he had been there to see the show. With those somewhat pleasant thoughts dancing through his head, Jou drifted off into a dreamless slumber.

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Ok. I don't know when the next will come out, because I am very slow at typing. I do 8 words a minute. (That's a lie; I'm not that bad) Please review!


	3. Starting the week with a BANG!

All right guys, you asked for it and I do my very best to deliver. Because I personally like long chapters when I read a story, I try to make them long so there is more to re-read between updates. So, on with chapter 3. I own nothing of Yu-Gi-Oh except four cards and the first volume of the manga.

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Jou had woken up extra early on Monday morning. By the time school finally came around, he was just itching to see Kaiba. He'd spent all morning making a plan to get Kaiba alone. It was a very elaborate plan that involved stealth, lies and fireworks. Once he got Kaiba alone, he had written a list of questions to ask, and demand the answers too. In his minds play out of the event, Kaiba would reveal everything about his terrible foster father, and how the terrible owners of the other company had forced him to pole dance for their own cruel satisfaction. Then he would seek comfort in Jou's warm embrace and the two would be inseparable from that point all.

Of course, as with all seemingly wonderful plans, there was one major flaw. The entire plan completely depended on Kaiba attending his classes, but he didn't appear to be anywhere on the school property, let alone in his desk.

Jou searched everywhere he could think of where there was even a minor chance the brunette would be. He started with the obvious, but in every classroom, the seat in the back corner was empty. He checked the library, the basement, the roof and every other place that you could be alone. He even checked all seven of the men's washrooms on the school, and attempted to check the women's too, when a teacher caught him. He was given an after school detention for his "peeping" and there was still no Kaiba.

The only thing that brought a smile to Jou's face was the fact that he and Honda were going to try and get jobs at that club again once detention let out. Maybe someone there could tell him why one of the richest men in Japan had been pole dancing there, or, if he was really lucky; maybe Kaiba would be putting on a repeat performance.

Jou was startled out of his musings by a playful shove forward. He turned to give a fake glare to the boy who he knew was responsible for the push. "Geeze Honda, what are you trying to do, kill me?" He asked with a laugh.

" Well of course, the less competition for the job, the better. " The brunette joked. " Man, I want that job so bad! Did you see that girl I was with? Damn! And don't think I didn't notice you checking out that dancer. Don't get your hopes up though; apparently he doesn't come around all that often. Not to mention you'd never have a chance with a guy that fine."

"Thanks Hond, you're a real pal." Jou said, seething with sarcasm.

"Aww come on bud, you know I love you. Just not in the way you'd like me too. I'm afraid this vessel of love is reserved strictly for the ladies." Honda grinned at Jou.

"Like I said, a real pal." Replied Jou with a roll of his eyes.

"So…Uh… I hope you don't mind, but we'll have to wait till after detention to go back to the club. I was caught sleeping in class. I hope you don't mind waiting for me." Honda said to change the subject.

"Hey, no problem, man! I got a detention too, for sneaking into the gir… Yeah, I got one too." Jou finished lamely.

Honda must have seen the embarrassed blush one his friend's cheeks and known to quit while he was ahead because he didn't press the matter. For that, Jou let out a silent sigh of relief.

The rest of the day seemed to pass quite quickly, but that was only because Jou had fallen into the habit of thinking back to his experience on Friday night. He would then have to get up and leave the class in order to relieve himself. He knew that at least a couple of his teachers were now concerned he had bladder problems.

By stunning contrast, detention crept by like a snail. One reason was that he wasn't allowed to talk, so he and Honda had to pass notes when the teacher wasn't watching them like a hawk, which wasn't often. Another reason was that he wasn't allowed to leave to go to the washroom. This prevented Jou from getting lost in the memories from Friday. That would get him into some serious trouble. So the two boys were stuck there, patiently waiting for the hour to end so they could get some jobs. (And for Jou to hopefully solve a mystery.)

This time, waitresses and dancers did not distract the two boys. They met right away with the manager, who was all too happy to add two young, attractive boys to his serving staff, especially since his club was beginning to get more popular.

It was right before the two boys signed the contracts when something disastrous happened. The current dancer, a curvy twenty-something, was being hassled by an audience member. Determined to prove themselves worthy, Jou and Honda rushed up to assist the poor girl. Unfortunately, in the haste of the moment, Jou bumped into the table and caused the candle on it to fall right onto his backpack. Although he was able to put out the small fire that was his homework rather quickly, no one noticed that one of his firecrackers had been lit in the process.

It only took about five seconds for the fuse of the cracker to burn away. A loud BANG was heard that coincided with a bright flash of red. Jou hid his head in shame. He'd blown it, literally, for Honda and himself. They'd never get a job here, hell; they'd be lucky if they didn't sue.

It took him a bit, but soon he noticed the owner was laughing. Jou looked at Honda questioningly, but the brunette could only shrug back. "That was amazing! And it certainly worked, didn't it!" The owner was saying between laughs. "That's the best way to stop people for harassing employees I've ever seen. I can't wait to see what else you boys come up with." He said as he got them to sign the contracts. Of course we shouldn't use real fireworks, a little dangerous, you understand. Just brilliant."

After being told they were needed the very next night and would get "on the job" training, the boys left feeling very relieved. The boss already liked them for something that could have ruined their careers at any other place.

Jou vowed to himself that he would start his snooping the very next night, and be closer to his answers. He would also try to find Kaiba again, but now he was re thinking the use of fireworks in his scheme.

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There ya go. Another period of time, another chapter. I have exams now, so don't be expecting anything for a bit, unless I do well, then I'll write, but if not, I won't. I'm sure you know how it goes.


	4. A failed confrontation

I swear the next one will be faster, cause I've been on a writing kick lately, so I have the next three chapters written, but not typed. Anywhoo, read on.

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Much to the chagrin of Jounouchi, Kaiba did not appear at school again until Wednesday, and in the afternoon at that. While headed for the washrooms, Jou caught him in the hallway during last period. He was taken by such surprise that he forgot all about his carefully crafted pan and simply blurted out "Kaiba, what are you doing here?'

Without even glancing his way, the boy replied, "I go to school here. Surly even someone with your brain capacity can remember that much." Although it was an insult, Jou could feel it didn't have the harsh bite he had grown to expect from the coldhearted CEO.

"Yeah, but you haven't been here all day. Why bother to show up now?" Jou replied, ignoring the previous barb.

Finally looking up, the brunette replied " I needed some things from my locker. Now, if you're finished with the Spanish Inquisition, I" but he never got to finish that thought. "Whoa! You look like the living dead man! I thought you'd get rest now that you're done with that big deal thingy, but I guess I was wrong, huh?" Jou interrupted.

And he was right; Kaiba did look like death warmed over. His pale skin only helped to accentuate the dark circles that had formed under his eyes. His eyelids were drooping over his eyes, giving him a slightly peeved appearance that was far less threatening then the ice prince he normally was. It even looked like he had lost a bit of weight since the last time Jou had seen him.

"Yes, well, my work is never done. Now, as stimulating as this conversation is, I must head home, so unless you have anything worth paying attention too to say, I'll be on my way." When Jou made no reply besides gawking slightly, his taller companion turned around and stalked out of the school, across the lawn and into his ever-waiting limo.

"Well," said Jou to himself "that didn't go nearly as well as I planned." It suddenly occurred to him that the two of them had just had a conversation that could pass as civilized if you weren't paying too close attention.

With a sigh, Jou remembered that trying to get information at his new job had not gone as well as he had planned either.

He and Honda had been shown the ropes of serving customers and been introduced to the other employees, including dancers. When Jou had asked about the man who had danced the previous Friday, no one could tell him anything. The DJ who was currently at the club didn't work on weekends and the mystery man never spoke to anyone else, not even the manager, as far as any of the wait staff could tell.

The other dancers didn't like him. He came in out of nowhere and stole the show completely. They were quite happy he didn't show up very often.

All in all the mystery man was just that. A mystery. But Jou was not one to give up that easily. He'd already made another plan. He'd ask the weekend DJ during his shift on Saturday night, and he'd try confronting Kaiba again tomorrow. But right now he had to get back to class, and then head over to his new job with Honda so they could make sure they knew everything before the busy shifts on the weekends.

The next day Kaiba was once again not at school. Jou hoped against all odd it was because he was at home sleeping, but he knew the CEO was probably at Kaiba Corp. working himself to an early grave.

Jou tried no to think about Kaiba. The more he did, the more ho wanted to see him. He had to keep focused on getting home so he didn't head straight downtown, find Kaiba and tie him to a bed. So he could sleep, of course. Tie him to a bed so Kaiba could sleep.

Jou was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he almost didn't hear the voice calling to him. "Jou! Jou, wait up a sec!"

The boy in question turned to see Mokuba running at top speed straight for him. It became apparent that on Mokuba, top speed did not come with breaks, and so Jou was knocked right over.

"Oh, thank goodness I found you! I have the biggest favor to ask you. But before I tell you what it is, you have to agree. But it's huge and you won't want to do it, but I'll owe you big time. Like, pay off student loans or kill a man big time! Please don't make me kill a man, and please, please, please say you'll do it!" After this short rant, Mokuba stared pleadingly at Jou.

Jou couldn't help the chuckle that escaped. Kids tended to exaggerate on everything. The poor boy probably just needed some help with his homework or something.

"Sure Mokuba, I'll help you out," he said with a smile.

Relief washed over the young boys face. "Oh, thank you so, so much! You have no idea how much this means to me! But I can't tell you out here, we have to be somewhere private." And so the small boy dragged the blond towards his Limo.

After ordering his driver to take the long route home, Mokuba turned to Jou. "Ok, first off, thank you. I'm in your debt. And secondly you have to swear no to tell anyone about this." Jou gave an affirmative nod. "Ok, I need you to sleep with Seto."

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A week tops till the next one. Don't forget to review!


	5. Mokuba's Favour

Look, I updated see! Still don't own it though.

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If Jou had been drinking, he would have done a spit take. Was Mokuba really asking him to make all his own dreams come true? The only response he could make to the younger boys request was to gawk with an open mouth.

"I know it sounds weird, and you two are constantly at each others throats, but I know that he likes you. Well, he tolerates you more then anyone. Oh, this is coming out all wrong." Mokuba took a deep breath and decided to try again. "I'm going away on a school trip for the weekend and I'd really appreciate it if you'd stay at my house while I'm gone."

This explanation did nothing to stop Jou's confusion. Why on earth did Mokuba leaving get him an invite to sleep over at the Kaiba mansion? The confusion must have shown on his face because Mokuba continued.

"See, Seto trusts you. I know it doesn't seem that way, but his emotions have kind of been buried pretty deep. But that's not the point; the point is that Seto hasn't been sleeping well lately. He never does at this time of year; it brings back bad memories. Although he can forget about them during the day by occupying his mind with other things, he can't escape that way at night. He has terrible nightmares. A lot of the time, he can't wake up from them, but a familiar voice and unthreatening presence seem to help. Normally I'd be there to calm him down, but like I said, school trip. I told him I'd stay home, but he insisted he was over it and I deserved to go have some fun. I know it's just his pride talking and he's not really over anything. That's where you come in. You'll be the one to calm him down in my place.

Jou had been quietly listening up until this point, but he had a question that needed to be answered. "Mokuba, what makes you think Kaiba will let me near your house, let alone inside for a sleepover?"

The smaller boy turned bright red at this comment. "Uh… well… ya see… if all goes to plan, Seto wouldn't even know you were there till one night had passed." With a guilty grin he continued "See, I'd let you in tomorrow morning and you'd stay in our house all day. Of course, you would have to skip school for the day, but Seto won't be home until after ten at the earliest, so you can explore and then sleep in my room until he has his nightmare. It's perfect! Please do it." With the added puppy dog eyes Mokuba was giving, even Seto himself couldn't resist the request.

Jou had to admit; he was quite excited by the idea. He had been to the Kaiba mansion once before to work on a school project. The older Kaiba had been forced into a group with Jou and Yugi and insisted that they work in a "Civilized environment" where he wouldn't get any unpleasant surprises. They had been forced to work diligently for hours so Kaiba wouldn't need to disinfect the room twice. The only upside to getting the thing done that quickly was they didn't have work to do in class for the rest of the week, so Jou could sleep with no interruptions. The idea of being alone and able to explore the giant house sent shivers of delight up his spine.

"Ok Mokuba, I did promise." He said with his trademark grin.

"Oh Jou! Thank you so much!" And suddenly the younger Kaiba was attached to Jou's waist, squeezing in happiness. "Don't worry, it won't be too bad. You can play my video games and Chef will make you anything you want. The whole staff will know you're there. I'm sure you'll have a great time."

Jou smiled and suddenly noticed they were outside the gates of the Kaiba mansion. "Ok, well, Seto's waiting for me inside so the driver will take you home. Be here around eight tomorrow morning. Seto will have left by then." And with a wave, Mokuba ran into the looming mansion.

Needless to say, Jou found it hard to concentrate on his work that night. He was too distracted by what the next day would bring. For six until midnight, her served drinks and processed orders quickly as he could so he would have more time to think by himself.

The one thought he was having the most trouble with was the fact that Kaiba had nightmares. The man was practically untouchable; it must be something terrible to give him nightmare. Jou couldn't even fathom a monster scary enough to give the CEO chills. One thing was for sure; he never wanted to dream about anything that scary.

When Jou got home that night, his father was already asleep. He tiptoed into his bedroom and wrote a note telling his dad he wouldn't be home that weekend. As long as his father knew he wouldn't be home for the weekend, he didn't get too upset or worried. Jou knew if he had to be at the Kaiba mansion by eight, he'd be gone before his dad was even awake.

Jou packed an overnight bag with clothes for the weekend and his toothbrush and then laid out his clothes for the next day. He knew if he had to wake up early, he'd want to stay in bed for as long as he possibly could. Finally, he set hi alarm clock and settled down to sleep.

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Ok, did I trick anyone? Don't you think it'd be weird if Mokuba had been asking Jou to have sex with his brother? I mean, I know they're close and everything, but that's just a little too close.

So, if you feel like it, review, if not, I'll update anyway, because I like it enough to figure out what's gonna happen. That's right, I don't have an ending yet! AHAHAHA. Next chapter is longer; I'm not done typing it.


	6. First Night

Ohhh, ahh, a new chapter. I'm so great. I thought to myself "I need to type this up real soon" so I did.

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At 3:27am Jou awoke with a start. He knew that was the time because the only light around was the glaring numbers on the digital clock next to him on the bedside table. Now he just needed to figure out why he was awake so early, and on a Saturday no less.

He remembered he'd been on edge all day, wanting to explore the giant mansion he was in, but he was much to terrified the Kaiba would come home early to get a document or something, so he'd jumped at every noise and decided it would be easier on his nerves if he played a video game on mute in Mokuba's bedroom. When he heard Kaiba open the front door at 11:30, he'd shut out all the lights.

He thought he'd never get to sleep at such an early hour, but when he's lain down in what he considered to be one of the most comfortable beds of all time, he was out like a light. But then, during a very vivid dream featuring a certain blue-eyed CEO, he was woken quite abruptly by a strange noise coming from somewhere outside of his room.

Considering his groggy state, it was amazing how quickly Jou managed to piece together his recently collected facts. The strange noise was someone crying out. Jou hurriedly jumped out of bed and began his search. After all, he was only in the mansion so he could calm down Kaiba.

Jou was a little surprised at how easy it was for him to find the brunettes room. He had assumed he would be lost for hours in the many hallways, but in reality the noises lead him to the room right next door to Mokuba's. It did make sense that the over protective brother would have a room so close to the one he was sworn to protect.

At the door, Jou hesitated. Walking into Kaiba's room would be like walking into his own, personal domain. Maybe he could finally learn something about the seemingly cold-hearted boy.

All thoughts of learning intimate secrets about the other boy were dashed the second he walked through the door. There was Kaiba, in the middle of his king-sized bed, thrashing about with a look of terror on his face and soft whimpers escaping from tightly closed lips. For Jou it was almost too much. Aside from anger and, when looking at Mokuba, something that could resemble love if you'd had a very warped childhood, Jou had not known Kaiba to have feelings, let alone show them. Jou's gut was telling him to run as far and as fast as he could, to get away from this foreign scene but his mind kept telling him he had promised Mokuba he would help.

His inner turmoil ended when the brunette let out a wail followed by "No! I won't let you! NO!" The jolt of surprise got the blonde moving again. He cautiously mad his way over to the bed, willing himself to remember the instructions Mokuba had given him.

Slowly but surly the younger boys voice filtered into his head.

"Now Jou, you may be a bit shocked when you see Seto. He'll be thrashing about, but that's normal. Well, normal for his mid nightmare state anyway. The important thing is to calm him down. Don't try to wake him up because that just freaks him out more. He may even get violent. I know you two have had fought before, but he doesn't restrain himself when he's sleeping. Any punch you've received before will be nothing compared to the wallop he could deliver, trust me on this one. Anyway, like I said, your main focus is to calm him down."

Jou recalled his own voice asking; "Okay, so how do I do that?"

The answers drifted through his mind. "There are a few things that seem to work. Speak softly and say things like 'it's okay, it's just a dream' you know, calming things. Also, gentle physical contact, like soothing strokes on the arm or something. Just keep I calm and relaxed, and he should relax too. Oh, and do not, under any circumstances, call him Kaiba. Seriously, call him anything else, although it would be best if it weren't an insult.

With his instructions in mind, Jou could set about completing his task. He was hovering over the sleeping body trying to decide how to start when it jerked. As if acting on it's own, his hand reached down to brush the sweat soaked brown hair off the sleepers pale face.

"Hey, it's okay. Whatever it is, it can't hurt ya." He heard his voice whisper soothingly.

The effect was almost instantaneous. The jerking slowly ebbed away and the sleeping CEO cautiously leaned into the touch. Jou kept up the talking and the light touches for a few more minutes until it looked like the other was having a pleasant dream. Jou decided that he could leave the other boy in peace and started to head quietly back to his room.

Jou had turned around and was just about to take his first steps towards the door when a hand firmly grabbed his wrist. 'Uh oh, I've been caught.' He thought. I can explain, just give me a chance. See, your brother, he asked me for a favour, and I agreed to help. And this happened to be it." When he got no response and the pressure on his wrist didn't change, he turned to look at his captor. "Kaiba?" He asked in confusion.

For a beat, nothing happened, then, a split second after Jou remembered he was never supposed to say that to the sleeping Kaiba, he was wrenched down, face first, onto the bed. The Brunette had curled up into a ball in the center of the bed and was clutching Jou's hand like a lifeline. He had tightened his grip so much that Jou's hand was turning purple.

Jou knew that if he ever wanted his hand back he would need to perform some damage control, and fast! He brought back the soothing voice he had been using earlier to apologize as he tried to sit comfortably on the bed.

It was fairly easy to tell that saying the name Kaiba was a terrible mistake, and for whatever reason it had caused the nightmare to be worse then it was before. It took 15 minutes of soothing before Kaiba was at the state he had been when Jou had first got there. He was very careful not to say the K-word but almost slipped up once or twice out of pure habit.

After a good half an hour of worried coaxing, Jou finally got Seto calm and peaceful. Only then did he realize he could no longer feel his purple hand. "Hey Seto, I gotta get my hand back. See, I got all the baddies to got away, but I need my hand to keep them away." Jou chanced a glance down at his companion and just had to smile. The big bad CEO had the exact expression that children get when someone try's to take away their favorite toy. He'd have to bargain with him. "OK Seto." Man, saying his first name felt weird "I need my hand back, but you can still grab my waist or something if you'd like to."

Jou waited for an answer with baited breath. Slowly the vice-like grip on his hand loosened. As soon as it was possible, Jou snatched his hand away and started to rub some feeling back into it. There was a slight whimper from the body next to him, but then two long arms wrapped around one of his legs and Jou was sure he'd heard the word "mine" before Kaiba stopped moving all together.

Jou know for a fact that Seto was happily snuggled up to his leg for at least another hour. He knew this because he'd been un-able to sleep. First because of the pins and needles feeling in his hand was agonizing and lasted for ten minutes. Then, when the pain finally subsided, it hit him that Kaiba, his long time rival, was snuggled up to his leg, one arm hooked around his knee and the other was on his upper thigh, in a very dangerous spot. Jou was still willing himself not to think about that second hand when he finally drifted off to sleep.

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There ya go. Review please! The next one shouldn't take too long.


	7. The morning after

Here ya'll go!

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For the first time in years, Jou woke up feeling completely safe and, ironically enough, that put him on edge. Why on earth was he feeling so secure? As awareness of things around him came into his sleep-fogged brain, so did the answers to his current dilemma. The secure feeling was coming from the two arms tightly wrapped around his waist, holding him flush against another person's chest. He could clearly hear another heartbeat, steadily pumping. The rhythmic sound managed to put Jou's mind at ease.

Currently, it didn't matter that Kaiba was under the impression that it was Mokuba he was holding, to keep him safe from his nightmares, or that the two of them were sworn enemies, or even that if Kaiba were to wake up now, Jou would get the ass kicking of his life. Not to Jou. Not when he could imagine away all those facts and pretend Kaiba was holding him because he wanted too, because he felt the same way. Jou sighed happily and snuggled closer to the warmth in front of him.

He didn't realize he had fallen asleep again until he woke up. Although he was still in Kaiba's arms, he didn't feel nearly as safe as he had the first time he'd woken up. He hazarded a glance at the brunettes face and was met with a pair of blue eyes full of sleepy confusion.

"M-morning Kaiba." Jou said meekly to break the silent staring contest.

"You're not Mokuba." Kaiba replied after a moment, in a voice that matched his eyes.

As if on cue, and to the great relief of Jou, the cell phone on the bedside table rang. As Kaiba answered with a groggy "hello?" Jou's mind went into overdrive. How on earth was he going to explain this? Would he survive the morning? Would Kaiba even believe him? Was Kaiba's arm really still around his waist?

After about five minutes of listening to a muffled voice and Kaiba's various responses, the cell phone was hung up. Jou was unknowingly holding his breath, waiting for something to happen. The awkwardness was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Finally, Kaiba broke the silence.

"So, Mokuba put you up to this. What's in it for you? Come to laugh at me when I'm vulnerable. I bet you and your little friends will talk about this for months. 'Hey guys, you'll never guess what moneybags said in his sleep last night' Ha ha ha. Well, have your laughs, but know that if this goes public, I can and will destroy you."

Normally Jou would have laughed after a threat like that, but the coldness in Kaiba's voice and eyes sent a chill down his spine. Kaiba seemed to notice this because he, with a slightly shocked expression, instantly moved his hand from around Jou's waist.

"Nah, you got it all wrong. Mokuba asked for a favor and seeing as I'm such a nice guy I said I'd do it for him, and this just happened to be the favor. I didn't do it to make fun of you. Besides, Yugi wouldn't let us make fun of you for having nightmares anyway. He'd say something like 'Everyone gets scared now and then' or 'that's not very nice you guys…'" Jou trailed off when he saw the stony glare he was receiving. Another awkward silence followed. "I wouldn't tell them though," Jou said in almost a whisper.

Kaiba sighed at looked down at Jou. "I know, you're not the type to betray someone's trust like that. It's just… it's hard for me to trust people." For a brief second, Jou could have sworn he saw sadness cross the CEO's face, but then it was gone, just as quickly as it had come.

"Well, since Mokuba has convinced me to allow you stay here for the duration of his trip, I suppose you should get your own room and some food." Kaiba almost sounded like he was gritting his teeth in anger at the very thought of having to spend any amount of time with Jou. "Come along mu-Jounouchi you can get some food while I get your room ready." Kaiba stood and briskly walked towards the bedroom door, with Jou on his heels.

When they reached the kitchen, Jou was shocked. For such a huge house, he was sure there would be a spectacularly huge, stainless steel kitchen. Instead he was lead into a kitchen only slightly bigger then the one in his apartment, although it was true that there was a lot of stainless steel. "You should be able to find something to eat in here. Mokuba and I use it on the cook's day off, which happens to be today. I advise you never to touch anything in the main kitchen. Our cook is very particular about where her things belong. I'll come get you when your room is ready." And with that, Jou was left alone in the mini kitchen feeling slightly bemused. Was it just him or was Kaiba being vaguely polite. It must have been something Mokuba said.

Speaking of Mokuba, Jou was sure he had a fairly large part in stocking the cupboards. Although the fridge was full of things like fresh vegetables, juice and raw meat for actual meals, the cupboards were full of cookies, chips, cereals, candy and all other types of snack food. Jou knew, deep down, that he should be eating something vaguely healthy, but the brightly wrapped sweets were calling out to him. When Kaiba arrived back in the kitchen he found Jou had a plate cookies, a tall glass of chocolate milk and a bag of skittles. Kaiba sighed. "Couldn't you at least take a piece of fruit as well?"

"Skittles are almost a fruit." Jou said around the bag held between his teeth. Kaiba just rolled his eyes, grabbed an apple and headed out in the direction he had come. "Bring your snack, you can enjoy it in your room." He called over his shoulder.

When they reached his temporary bedroom, the skittles hit the floor. Jou was speechless and his mouth hung open in shock. This bedroom was half the size of his apartment, and it had an adjoining bathroom.

"This is where you'll be staying for the next few days. You should be comfortable. There's no TV or computer, but Mokuba has instructed me to tell you that you can use his if you need anything. I have to go out now, but I should be back for lunch. You can explore if you want to, but remember, locked doors are locked for a reason." And with that Kaiba was gone and Jou had the giant house to himself.

"Back for lunch?" He thought "How far off can that be?' It was then that he noticed it was only 6:30 in the morning. "KAIBA!" He cursed the absent boy for making him be awake that early on a Saturday morning.

Seto sped away from his house at top speed. He needed to be alone and able to think. He drove for an hour to get out of the city and away from all the distractions his life presented. Pulling up next to a small forest, he got out of his car and ventured to a clearing he knew was in the middle.

He had found this thinking spot about two years before and it had been a savior to him. When he couldn't figure something out at work he step away to somewhere more secluded where no one would disturb him while he thought thing through.

Now, however, he did not need to clear his head to think about work. He had much more pressing things on mind.

Taking out his duel monsters deck, he began to mindlessly sort and re-sort them, over and over, as a calming technique. With none of his major worries tying him down, he was able to focus.

Jounouchi. That's what he needed to think about. To say he had been shocked when he'd woken up with the blonde in his arms would have been the understatement of the century. Seto had never planned for anyone, ever, to know he suffered from nightmares. He tried to hide the fact from Mokuba, and it worked for a few years, but as Mokuba had gotten older, his bedtime had gotten later, and it was only a matter of time before Seto started making noises while his brother was still awake. He had intended on taking that bit about himself to his grave. At least no one knew the content of his nightmares.

Now that he was thinking about it, not letting his vast anger of the fact that someone knew his secret get in the way, he couldn't think of a better person to figure it out. One of the many things Seto knew first hand was that being mad about something that had already happened was a waste of time and energy.

Seto began thinking of all the reasons it wasn't a complete disaster that Jou knew more about him. He was loyal enough that he wouldn't tell anyone, he didn't ask a whole bunch of questions, and he seemed to know how to calm Seto down. He could deal with this.

Now that that problem was out of his way, he went on to thinking about how to punish Mokuba for getting him into this situation in the first place.

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Another stretch of time, another chapter. Please review, cause authors live for it.


	8. Yummy and Yumi

I'm sorry this took a bit. It's my first year of University, so I had to get used to the workload. Also, sorry if the writing isn't as good as normal in the first part. I was too lazy to revise it. Maybe some other time.

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By the time lunch rolled around, Jou had finished his self-guided "find the approximate area that everything is in" tour of the Kaiba mansion. He was almost certain he had been to every wing on every floor, unless there were some secret passages he hadn't found, which he wouldn't put past Kaiba. After all, he had found three locked doors.

Jou, figuring that this was probably one of the only chances he would have alone in the famous Kaiba mansion, had decided to make himself a map. This map was highly detailed, if a little messy, but it had all the rooms and was colour coded. On his map, the locked doors had big, red Ex's over them, so he knew not to try exploring them.

Jou had also highlighted, in yellow, rooms that deserved to be explored in greater detail. These rooms included such highlights as: The games room, the mini-gym, the library, and Kaiba's bedroom. In blue he'd highlighted all the rooms that he shouldn't go into, like the main kitchen, and rooms he had no interest in going in, like Kaiba's office.

Jou was just headed towards one of the many washrooms (which were highlighted in green) when he heard a clang from the mini-kitchen (that had a pink heart around it, like every other room with food.

Cautiously, Jou peeked around the corner into the kitchen. For a moment, the image he saw didn't make sense to his brain. There, standing at the stove was Kaiba, in an apron, cooking bacon. But Kaiba was the CEO of a multi-national corporation, why was he frying bacon?

Jou must have made a noise, or Kaiba just had the ability to sense a presence behind him, because he turned around and said "I hope you don't mind BLT's for lunch, they're one of Mokuba's favorites."

Jou just nodded stupidly, staring at the homey looking version of Kaiba, still not quite believing it was real. When the sandwiches were deemed ready, Kaiba grabbed some juice out of the fridge and set the table. Jou walked over to, and sat down at the table in a bit of a daze. He didn't know Kaiba even knew how to cook, let alone would ever consider cooking for him. And he had to admit, the sandwich was pretty good.

"Hey Kaiba, I didn't know that you could cook!" Jou commented between mouthfuls "This is pretty damn good. I'm amazed you even have a chef."

Kaiba rolled his eyes. 'First of all, it's just a sandwich. For all you know, that's the only thing I can make, second of all, I often work late, so someone has to feed Mokuba, and lastly, thank you."

Jou smiled to himself at that. He never thought he'd see the day that Kaiba would thank him.

The conversation from that point on was surprisingly easy. They talked about school for the most part, because it was common ground for the two. Jou was surprised when Kaiba mentioned he used to be a terrible math student because he was now the top of his class, but when he asked how he'd changed his ways, the topic was abruptly changed to gym, the one subject Jou got better grades in, if only because Kaiba had to miss it so often for business meetings. I turned out Kaiba had once wanted to be a professional Basket-ball player, but when he heard about the hours of training he'd need to put in, he lost interest.

When lunch was over, Kaiba went into the fridge and pulled out a big piece of cake, claiming it to be dessert. He explained that he and Mokuba would often split a slice after their meal because neither could finish one by themselves. Jou was more then happy to help.

After lunch, Jou took it upon himself to help clean up the dishes. Kaiba kept insisting it was un-necessary but Jou would hear none of it. So the two washed and dried the dishes side by side, still keeping up their easy conversation. When the kitchen was finally clean, Kaiba announced he had to get some work done, and would be in his study if Jou needed him.

It was a few hours later when Jou dared disturb Kaiba in his office. 'Kaiba, I've got to leave for work in about half an hour, is there anything I can eat real quick before I go?" Kaiba was obviously deeply involved with his work and answered with a distracted " In the freezer, there should be some things you can microwave." And with that, Jou assumed he was dismissed, because Kaiba returned to his work.

In the freezer, he found some lasagna that would be a sync to heat up, and looked absolutely delicious. While he was waiting for it to heat up, he decided it would be the perfect time to explore the mini-kitchen. While going through all the lower cupboards, he came across a half-full dishwasher. "If Kaiba has a dishwasher, why didn't he tell me when we were washing up after lunch?" Jou thought to himself. He thought about going up to ask, but the microwave beeped and by the time he was done eating, it was time for him to leave for work.

xXx

At 9:30 it was time for Jou's break. Normally he'd have spent it in the back room, eating whatever desserts he could beg off the chief, but not today. Today was Saturday, which meant Jou might be able to get a few of his questions, answered.

Jou had been planning this particular confrontation the whole trip to the club. He'd written up some questions to ask and had worked on the correct tone to ask them in. A demanding one. When he'd arrived at work he had switched his break time so it would coincide with the DJ's. He knew that his plan only took a half and hour to create, and was riddled with loopholes, but he had always been an optimist.

He saw the DJ leaving the booth and ran over. 'Excuse me, can I talk to you for a minute?" He called on his way over. The DJ turned around as she responded "Sure hun, what do you need?"

Jou skidded to a halt. He was a little thrown off because he thought that the weekend DJ was a guy. He then had the terrible thought that this wasn't the normal DJ and was just some replacement.

"Uh, are you the regular weekend DJ?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound as nervous as he felt.

"I sure am." She answered back with a huge smile. "Have been ever since this place opened up. Why? You like my tunes?"

"Umm, no. I mean yes! I mean…" Jou took a moment to compose himself. What had happened to all those questions he'd written down. Oh well, he'd have to wing it. "Yes, I do like your style, but I actually came to ask you about something else." The DJ smiled encouragingly and waited for Jou to continue. "About a week ago there was a dancer here. You said he was one of the favorites, but he's not on the pay roll, do you know who he is?"

When Jou looked up again, the girl had a small, sad smile on her face. "Another admirer for the masked dancer. Sorry hun, he's the real private type. He comes in every so often, dances, then leaves. You may never see him again." She turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Jou exclaimed. "You said he was a favorite, but this place hasn't been open that long. How'd he get a reputation already?"

For a moment the girl just sized Jou up. 'You're the real determined type, aren't ya?" Before Jou even had a chance to consider answering, she spoke again. That's good; usually they give up about now. He used to come dance at the club I worked at before these guys recruited me. Then I guess he followed me here. He was a favorite back there too. Struck up a deal with the owner that if he was gonna come in and steal the show whenever he wanted, he had to do one planned show a year. That show always sold out real fast. Some of his fans followed me to this club, and his reputation spread like wildfire. Anything else you wanna know?"

"Yeah, do you know why he does it?"

A flash of something crossed the girl's eyes. "I'm afraid I can't help you there. He comes in and leaves alone, so I'm not sure anyone even knows he does it. All I know is he comes in angry, hands me a fifty and does a dance. Sometimes he'll need to do more then one dance, so he'll hand me another fifty and go back out there. When he'd done, he leaves. He always looks different when he leaves, calmer I guess, like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. Now, as much as I enjoy talking about tall dark and handsome men, I gotta eat. My breaks almost half over. So unless you have anything really urgent, can we continue this some other time?"

"Oh, Sorry! I didn't even think about that. I feel like such and idiot." Jou said as a blush stained his cheeks.

'It's no problem. Come by the booth for a chat anytime I'm not to busy. The name's Yumi." She called as she disappeared into the Kitchen.

Jou spent the rest of his break in the tiny staff lounge thinking. If Kaiba came alone, and fairly regularly, then it wasn't very likely he was being forced into anything. Yumi had also made it sound like his mood lightened when Kaiba danced. Now Jou was really confused, and back to square one in the ideas department.

"That man is just too confusing" he muttered to himself as he got up to finish his shift.

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Please review. It makes me feel good about myself.


	9. An unexpected turn of events

I don't own it, except 6 cards and 2 volumes of the manga. Happy Birthday Seto!

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Jou had tried to talk to Yumi again before he left, but a disaster in the kitchen had flung that thought right out of his head. On e of the dishwashers had tripped, causing all the plates he was carrying to crash to the ground. The loud noise causes a waiter (not Jou) to start, sending his tray of Martini glasses to join the mess on the floor. Like most things made of glass, the martini glasses shattered when they hit the floor. Shards of glass flew everywhere. One particularly large piece managed to hit a chef in the leg. Since the pain was so sudden and intense, the cook got distracted. In his moment of distraction, his sleeve caught on fire. Needless to say, Jou was a little late getting home that night.

As he snuck in the front door, he noticed a dim light coming from under a door to the right. Taking out his handy map, he saw the light was coming from one of the small entertainment rooms. He knocked lightly, opening the door and calling out an unsure "Hello?"

He got no response except for the noise of the TV, which was also the light source. He walked further into the room with the intent of turning the thing off. As he reached down for the remote, he got the surprise of his life when he saw he wasn't alone in the room. Kaiba was fast asleep on the couch. The brunette looked rather uncomfortable, curled up to fit on the three cushions, and Jou was sure if he had to stay like that all night, he would be very stiff in the morning. After he turned off the TV, he tried to wake the boy.

He gently shook him, but that only caused the sleeper to curl up further and mutter something. "Hey man, wake up. You need to sleep on a real bed, not crammed up on a couch." The sleeping Kaiba pouted and started to turn over. "Man, don't tell me I have to carry you." He muttered to himself. Kaiba must have heard that because he stopped turning and his pout turned into a small, shy smile. "You have got to be kidding me." Jou sighed, but bent down to pick up the older boy nonetheless. He was honestly surprised how light the tall boy was. He knew the guy was skinny, but this was just ridiculous.

By the time he reached Kaiba's room, however, he was singing a different tune. "Man Seto, You weight a ton…" and he dropped him none to gently on the bed. Kaiba made a noise of protest at the rough behaviour, but was otherwise silent.

Jou noted that Kaiba was still wearing most of his clothing and was unsure if he should change the unconscious boy into a pair of pajamas. In the end he decided it would be a little too awkward to change the sleeping boy completely, but he could at least make him feel more comfortable. He decided that Kaiba would be perfectly fine sleeping in his boxers and maybe a t-shirt if he could wrestle one on. At the very least it would be better then wearing the fancy shirt and pants he'd been in all day.

He started the changing process with Kaiba's shirt because it would be much less awkward to get him into a t-shirt if he wasn't only wearing boxers. When all those little buttons finally came undone, Jou was pleased to find that the wrestling would be unnecessary as Kaiba was wearing an undershirt.

Next was the belt for his pants. Jou was unsure if he should do this step really fast to get it over with, or really slow because it was unlikely he would ever get an opportunity like this again. When Kaiba started to roll over, he decided to do it fast, so Kaiba could sleep peacefully.

Once Kaiba was in his makeshift sleepwear, Jou decided it was about time he was off to bed too. He covered Kaiba in the plush comforter and started to head out. Kaiba made a slight mewl as Jou was leaving. One of his hands also stretched out, as though trying to grab Jou before he had a chance to leave.

And Kaiba made another pitiful whining noise, Jou stopped short. Maybe the boy was having a nightmare and was reaching out for help. He went right back over to the bed and grabbed the outstretched hand. Kaiba grabbed the blondes' hand and seemed to relax a bit. Sighing, Jou knew he couldn't leave the brunette now. He climbed into the bed and let the CEO of a major cooperation, his self-proclaimed arch nemesis, to curl up onto his chest and snore lightly.

xXx

When Jou woke up, Kaiba was still snuggled up onto his chest, one hand gently grabbing Jou's shirt while the other was still clasped with Jou's. Jou couldn't help but smile at the display in front of him. Moneybags looked almost exactly like his sister used to when she slept in Jous' bed after a nightmare.

"Hey Kaiba, it's time to wake up. It's past ten, I think you've slept long enough." He said as he gently shook the other boy.

"Mrrphlg…. Sunday…." was the only response he got as Kaiba rolled over.

Jou sighed as Kaiba pulled a pillow over his head, and realized that he was fighting a losing battle. "How about I make you some nice breakfast in bed and then you wake up?" He suggested hopefully. "Chef' was the only response he got to that.

He didn't understand that statement until he left the room and his nose was assaulted with the most heavenly aroma. It sure smelled like someone was making pancakes. Jou followed the scent downstairs to the main kitchen and peeked around the corner.

"BOY!" He jumped when that was bellowed at him. "Come on now, no use standing there like a useless idiot. Kaiba-sama needs his breakfast just like the rest of us. He's not a robot, you know." Jou cautiously walked over. 'There now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" He shoved a tray at Jou and began to pile it with those wonderful pancakes, as well as fresh orange juice and bacon. 'Now you go take this upstairs and you'd better hope he's still asleep, because if Kaiba-sama sees you in that outfit you'll be fired faster then you can blink! Also, don't be acting funny; I hear he's got a boy-toy over this weekend. I bet that's the real reason his brother left. To give the two of them a bit of privacy." As Jou blushed bright red, the chef just laughed. 'Aw, don't be embarrassed boy! It's his own business, and we get paid well enough to keep our mouths shut. Besides, I say it's about time. That boy has been holed up by himself for far to long. Now hurry up, that stuff will get cold. And be careful, I hear the boy toy could eat even Kaiba-sama out of house and home." Jou assumed he was dismissed as the Chef started laughing to himself.

His blush didn't lessen at all on the way back to Seto's room. Did the staff really think he was the CEO's…. boy-toy? With that thought in mind, he started to notice all the looks he was getting. As he walked passed a maid, she giggled, and another gave him a meaningful glance. Then he stopped making eye contact and settled on staring at the floor. 'Oh my god." He muttered to himself as he hurried into the bedroom.

When he got there, he noticed Kaiba was still asleep, curled around a pillow, much like he had been curled around Jou before. 'Hey Kaiba, time to wake up. I brought you this delicious smelling food, and some freshly squeezed Juice. Yum yum." Kaiba groaned. 'Common man, don't you have to go to work?" With that the brunette rolled over onto his back. 'I don't work on Sundays. I sleep, finish any homework and spend time with Mokuba."

"Oh." Jou responded, not really sure how to go on. "Umm… you wanna go back to sleep?"

Seto sighed. "No, I'm awake now, I may as well eat." He sat up on his bed and started pulling out these crazy trays with foldable legs that happily sat on the bed. He then looked at Jou expectantly. After a moment of silence he asked 'Are you going to join me?" That snapped Jou back from wherever his mind had wondered to. He hopped onto the bed and set up the food.

For practically the entire day, the two stayed on the bed, only getting off to use the washroom or to grab something they needed. They ate, watched movies and did homework. Well, Jou did homework, and demanded that Kaiba help him. Jou was surprised that Seto was actually a decent teacher. He was patient with Jou and could explain complicated problems in simple terms. When Jou asked about this, Kaiba simply responded "Mokuba needs help with his homework too."

Throughout the day the two made easy conversation on just about every topic, from favorite movies to least favorite characters in Shakespeare. They both avoided uncomfortable topics, like their respective pasts and family life, seeming to unconsciously know these topics were out of bounds.

When the chef Jou had met earlier brought up dinner, Jou saw something he had never seen before. It wasn't the little tray with all the food on it that the chef pushed in, or the expression on the guys face when he realized the new servant he had talked to that morning was the "boy-toy" he had been talking about, it was what happened after.

"What was that all about?" Kaiba asked, referring to the look Jou had received.

Jou decided to play dumb "Huh?"

"Don't play dumb with me. I saw that look. How do you know my chef?"

Jou knew Seto was too smart to fall for any cheap tricks he might try to pull, so he just went with the truth. 'When I went to find us breakfast, he thought I was a new server and happily told me all about how I was your new…. boy-toy."

There was a brief pause of silence. Then it started. Kaiba started to laugh. For a full five minutes he just laughed, doubled over, eyes squeezed shut with tears caught on his lashes.

When he finally clamed down enough to speak, he was gulping in air. "He probably thought…I was going to…fire him! Owww, my muscles hurt." And with that he lay down, still gasping slightly and rubbing his cheeks. When he could speak without pausing to catch his breath, he said, "I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard." Then he sighed and closed his eyes again, still chuckling lightly.

Jou was staring at Seto with wide eyes. He knew it was strange, but it had never occurred to him the Kaiba had the ability to laugh. He was brought out of his musings by the shrill ring of his cell phone.

"Jou," can Honda's voice "I need ya to take my shift tonight. I know it's short notice, but I feel sick to my stomach. It's a short shift, only three hours, from nine till midnight. I'll owe you one, I swear, just please say you'll do it!" Jou sighed. He knew he couldn't just leave his friend in such a bind. 'Ok Hond, I'll do it. But no backing out when I call in that favour." "Thanks man, you're a life saver!" Was the reply he got.

Jou looked at the clock. By the time he was finished eating, he would have to leave in order to make it to work on time. 'Kaiba, I gotta go to work for a little tonight, but I should be back by 12:30, ok?" A nod was his only response.

xXx

When Jou got back to the mansion. All he wanted to do was fall asleep. He trekked up the stairs and headed down the hall.

"Jou…" He heard softly from the main bedroom. That was different. He'd never heard Seto call out a name before. And he never thought he'd hear his name. Then he heard "No! Don't please!" It was his time to intervene.

He walked in, intent on soothing the sleeping CEO, but was thwarted when the boys' long arm grabbed him and pulled him over. The sleeping boy snuggled down, lying directly on top of the blonde, and happily started sucking on his neck.

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Bwahahahaha. This chapter was going to be longer, but then midterms came along, so tough.


	10. The Safe Bet

Umm, here's the next chapter, but I gotta do major studying for exams, so don't expect a new one any time soon. I still don't own it. Also, there's mature content in this chapter, and I mean that quite seriously, so I'll just emphasize it.

MATURE CONTENT!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

He was trapped in his nightmare, and there was nothing he could do about it. It started the way it always did. He was alone, in the middle of a big empty room, playing with his favorite childhood toy. As he ignorantly played with his truck, a shadow fell over him. "It's time to go now boy." A deep voice said from behind him. He turned to see no one there, but something was going on. The walls were closing in, just slowly, making the room progressively smaller.

He started crying for help when the room was no bigger then a closet, and the walls kept moving. He tired pushing the walls, but he was too small, too weak to have any effect. When there was barely enough room for him to move, a rope appeared above his head. Terrified, he grabbed on, and was lifted out of the room. Too late did he realize he'd left his truck behind. He tried to climb down, to save it from its untimely fate, but he just managed to get himself tangled in the ropes.

Now upside-down, he was stuck staring at the toy, watching as the walls force slowly crushed the bright yellow plastic.

xXx

Jou woke up with a start. He hadn't had that nightmare since his mother left. He'd actually forgotten about it. "Seto, your nightmare had better not be that lame." He muttered to his sleeping companion. In response, Seto merely tightened his hold on Jou's legs.

Jou sighed. Seto was being really touchy feely tonight. It had been bad enough when he had first got there, when Kaiba started sucking on his neck. After the initial shock had worn off, Jou was finding himself enjoying the treatment. But then, who wouldn't want the most attractive, not to mention richest and most unattainable, boy in school giving them a hickey. When Jou felt himself start to get hard, he decided it might be a good idea to think of other things, so he wouldn't have to explain any unfortunate messes in the morning. He tired to focus on other things, but that backfired almost instantly.

When he stopped paying strict attention to Kaiba's mouth, he noticed the rest of the brunette's body. Seto's hands were pushing Jou's shoulders onto the bed, keeping him from sitting up. Their chests were pressed against each other, as Kaiba was literally on top of Jou. The soft strands of Seto's hair were tickling Jou's face in a very pleasing manner. Worst by far was the fact that Seto was crouched low on Jou's stomach, above his waist. Right above it. This meant that every time Jou moved, even slightly, Seto's nice round bottom would brush teasingly against Jou's rapidly growing erection.

Jou groaned. He was stuck between desperately wanting Seto to stop and wanting this delicious tortcher to never end.

As suddenly as he had started, Kaiba stopped. With a soft sigh he cuddled against Jou's side, laying one arm over Jou's chest and wrapping his legs around the blondes. Jou was deeply grateful for the change in position. It took some of the pressure off his pressing need. And after calming himself down, he was even able to drift off to sleep.

But now he was awake again. Kaiba was still in almost the same position, sleeping soundly. Jou looked over at the clock and saw it was 3 in the morning. He knew he needed to get back to sleep. He did have to go to school in the morning. If he had been aware of it, he would have been surprised at how quickly he managed to do just that.

xXx

The dream started the same as it normally did. He was still naked, blindfolded and chained to a bed. He was still cold and afraid, shivering violently, praying that the door would stay closed, that for this night, they'd leave him alone, but to no avail. He cringed when he heard the door open, the shriek of the hinges seeming to last forever.

He heard footsteps getting closer and re-coiled on instinct, pulling against the chains and causing the dildo shoved up his ass to press firmly against his prostate. His securely confined erection twitched at that. A gentle chuckle drifted out of the shadows. "I see you missed me" the chuckling voice said from somewhere to his left as gentle footsteps got closer. He tried again to curl up and hide, but as always, the chains prevented his escape. The chuckling stopped as the footsteps reached the side of the bed. The unseen figure spoke again as the mattress shifted from a change of weight. "Now now boy, you really shouldn't try to get away from me. After all, I'm the only one who knows what you need." He felt a heavier body straddle his waist and deft fingers started torturing his nipples.

He wanted to cry out, to scream for someone to help him, but the ball gag in his mouth only allowed whimpers to escape. "Now, is that the proper way to greet your master?" His captor said as he twisted a nipple harshly. "I only want to hear purrs coming from you." Abruptly the pain ended and soothing lips took the place twisting fingers were moments before. He tried to make moans of pleasure for his captor, but sobs continued to make their way out of his body.

"Now boy, I don't understand why you're being such a pussy about this. It's not like it's never happened before." The unseen figure said in response to his noises. "I have a lot of important men coming, in every sense of the word with your help, this afternoon and I don't need you to screw anything up with your girlish tears, so shut the fuck up!" The last part was said with a firm twist to his balls to emphasize the point. He drew in a sharp breath, but otherwise made no noise. "There's a good pet. Remember our deal, if you're absolutely perfect, there's no need for me to hurt your darling little brother."

In actuality, he was left alone at this point for about half-an-hour, but in his nightmare that part was edited out and suddenly there were hands all over him. Rough hands that poked and prodded everywhere, grabbing, rubbing, pinching, twisting, everything. Then the dream changed.

Instead of being torn apart from within, over and over, salty liquids burning his insides, his blindfold was ripped off and light flooded his vision. His shackles disappeared, allowing him to curl up in a strong pair of arms that had appeared. As he got comfortable in the safety of the arms, he knew he had to thank his saviour somehow.

At this point his upbringing kicked in. the only things he was ever praised for, even if he thought they were disgusting, had to do with sex. He would please his saviour to show his gratitude. He attached his mouth to the nearest section of skin available to him, which happened to be the neck. By the noises and reactions from his saviour's body, he knew his treatment was being enjoyed.

He looked up at his hero, finally able to see clearly through the light, and was met with a pair of chocolate brown eyes staring back at him. He immediately backed off, turning bright red. How could he have let the mutt see him in such a way? He was supposed to be better then this.

He felt gentle fingers take a hold of his chin and carefully turn his face. "Come now Seto, I just saved you, don't I deserve a little thank you?" Jou said as he moved their faces close enough for a kiss. "Just let go of a bit of that control. I'm not gonna hurt you." And then suddenly they were kissing. Not chaste, polite, getting to know you kisses, full blown, tongue down the throat, I-want-to-devour-you-without-actually-devouring-you kisses.

The kissing quickly escalated into touching, with Jou's clothes quickly forming a pile on the floor. Touching turned to caressing, but then Seto found his hands being help restrictively above his head. "Settle down Set, I didn't say you were allowed to play just yet. I gotta have my fun for a bit." Seto found he was unable, and un-wanting, to disobey the blonde. He kept his hands strictly off the muscular body that was hovering over him.

When one torturing hand grasped his very erect cock, Seto was allowed to touch Jou, but only above the waist. As Jou stroked him, Seto tried o show his appreciation by lavishing attention to the two dusky nipples in front of his face. When he felt his release slowly creep up on him, he got the command "Not until I tell you Set." And he obeyed.

He saw Jou smile down at him as his legs were spread apart. "Now comes the fun bit" was the only warning he got as Jou suddenly thrust into him.

xXx

Seto awoke with a start. He was sweating, his heart rate was up, his breathing was harsh, and most terrifying, and he was hard. He tried to wrap his head around what he'd just dreamed, but he couldn't. How could he have enjoyed such treatment, and with the mutt no less. Speaking of the mutt, Seto looked down and saw the blonde boy was nestled in his arms.

Just seeing Jou caused a rush or vivid memories from his dream. Seto jumped back, right off the bed, as though Jou had burned him. He knew he had to get out of that room, because every time he looked at the other boy, he got a flash of his dream, and his erection would twitch.

"No…no…" he muttered to himself. How could he make this go away? He'd heard a cold shower could help. Turning on just the cold water, he stepped under the spray of his shower. He let out several profanities the moment the freezing water hit his over heated skin. Once his not so little problem went away, he turned the temperature to a comfortable level and tried to forget about the whole thing.

By the time Jou woke up, Seto had eaten a meager breakfast and was locked away in his office. Jou didn't think too much of this. Since he hadn't worked at all the day before, it only made sense that the CEO had some catching up to do.

At 8:15, Seto came out of his office and briskly informed Jou that the limo would be taking them to school immediately. The limo ride was quiet as a grave for the most part. Seto was clearly avoiding even looking at Jou and Jou didn't know how to start up a conversation. When they were almost at school, Seto broke the silence.

"I hope you remember that you promised not to tell anyone about this weekend. I don't want to be asked any un-necessary questions." He said briskly.

"I know. You can count on me." Was Jou's reply.

"It's nice to know the dog is still loyal." Jou bristled a bit at the comment, but decided that Seto was just getting back into their routine so no one would be suspicious, so he let it slide. When they pulled up outside of the school, Seto stopped Jou just before he managed to climb out of the car. "Jou, I don't say this often, so you'd better appreciate it. Thank you… for this weekend. Just don't ever mention it again." And with that, he got out of the car and walked swiftly towards the school.

Jou got out and saw almost no one was there yet. He had to wait about ten minutes until Yugi arrived. "JOU!" the small boy practically shrieked, "Where have you been all weekend? I've been trying to reach you since Saturday morning!"

Jou knew he couldn't answer truthfully, but he hated to lie to his shrimpy friend. "Oh, you know, around. I got a new job, so I was working there, and I guess I was so exhausted I just conked out once I got home. I didn't mean to worry you, I'm sorry." It wasn't a complete lie, so Jou didn't feel that bad.

The two boys chatted animatedly as they walked up the steps to the school. As Jou was getting his books out of his locker, he saw Seto heading down the hallway. The brunette looked up and the two made eye contact. For a second nothing happened, and then Seto briskly turned around and walked away. For the rest of the day it went like this. If Seto saw Jou in hallway, he would turn around and take another route to class. In their shared classes, Seto remained very quiet and refused to look up. His normal arrogant aura was not present.

It became so bad that even Jou's friends started to notice. "Hey Jou," Honda whispered on the morning of the second day back at school. "Is there some reason that Kaiba is avoiding you? Did you finally manage to beat him up over the weekend?" Jou had to admit, he was also curious as to why the brunette was steering clear of him.

When lunch rolled around, Jou saw his chance to talk to the taller boy. He knew it was very clichéd, but they were going to have a confrontation in the washroom.

Jou walked in about three minutes after Seto. The CEO was washing his hands. "Hey," He said tapping the boy on the shoulder "Can we talk for a minute?"

Seto turned, his eyes shifting around the room, making sure they were alone, "Yes?' He asked once he was sure the coast was clear.

Jou couldn't think of a tactful way to ask his question, so he just blurted it out. "Is there some reason you're avoiding me?"

Seto looked at Jou and said coldly "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't avoid people, that's weak."

'Bullshit!" Jou exclaimed. "If you're really not avoiding me, why do you run every time we see each other in the hall?" He stepped closer to the blue-eyed boy. "Why do you constantly avoid eye contact?" Another step. "Why have the halls stopped echoing with our fights?" A final step brought them face-to-face. "I knew it wouldn't be like we were friends when we got back to school, but I figured maybe you'd be a tiny bit nicer, or at least it would go back to the way it used to be. Why did it change? Was it something I did?"

As Jou continued with his rant, Seto zoned out. Jou was in his personal space and Seto couldn't help but stare at him. The passion on Jou's face for this rant was harsher then the display Seto had dreamed for their foreplay. Jou's eyes were alight with the same fire, his muscles were tense in all the right places and he was giving off the same husky smell.

Jou noticed his companion swallow harshly. "Are you even listening to me? I was just saying you could let up a little on your famous self control, I'm not gonna hurt you. Geeze man" He scratched his neck in an embarrassed fashion. Before the fact the Seto had even moved registered with his brain, Jou found himself being roughly shoved to the floor.

Seto's eyes widened when he saw what he had just done. Jou thought he looked like a fish, staring down and gaping. Then he turned and fled. That was the last anyone saw him for the rest of the week.

xXx

Seto ran. He knew deep down, from painful lessons, that Kaiba's did not run away, but his natural instincts were currently more powerful then his screeching brain. Besides, he had to get out of that bathroom, it had been closing in. His emotions had been getting in the way.

The words Jou had said to him had echoed too closely with the ones he'd said in Seto's dream. He didn't want to be reminded of the dream, he just wanted to forget it. And when Jou had so casually rubbed his neck, something he did all the time, his collar had moved, revealing a large, purple, hickey. Seto's chest had tightened when he had seen it. He felt anger and disgust rise in him and he'd shoved the boy away. But then, when he saw the blonde on the ground, he recognized in himself that the anger and disgust were there because his puppy dared let someone else touch him. That thought had terrified him, so he ran.

After five blocks of running he finally slowed down. Where on earth did Jou get a hickey? A sudden, horrifying image of Yugi attached to Jou's neck like some sort of over-sized, tri-coloured leech popped into his head. No, that was just impossible, he told himself. They were best friends and nothing more. But then from who? He knew Honda was straight as an arrow just by his flirting in the halls. Seto was pretty sure all Jou's friends were either in a relationship, straight, or both.

Then it hit him. Jou's job! Was the blonde really that desperate for money? The thought that of other people looking at Jou the wrong way made him bristle, the idea that someone would consider touching the blonde made him see red. But that didn't make sense. Why should he care what Jou did for money, it had no effect on him. Why did seeing that bruise on Jou's neck affect him so.

xXx

It was Friday when Jou heard from a Kaiba. Unfortunately, it wasn't the one he really wanted to talk to. Rather, his younger brother.

"Jou, I need you to come over to the mansion. Seto's gone missing and there's something here I think you need to see. I'm sending the blue limo to pick you up, so be ready."

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Fun fact: This chapter, without my comments at the beginning and here, is exactly 3000 words. Crazy. Anyway, review because I love all those who do. And before you even say it, I end with cliff hangers so You'll read the next chapter.


	11. Letters and thoughts

Letters.

As far as Jou could tell, he'd been invited over to the Kaiba mansion on the account of dozens of letters.

When he had arrived, Mokuba was in a panic on the phone. He seemed to be calling everyone Seto had ever met and simultaneously asking them if they'd seen Seto recently and assuring them there was nothing to panic about. In between phone calls, Mokuba would scream or cry or try desperately to calm himself down. After Jou had been there for six phone calls, Mokuba decided to show him the reason he was there.

Jou followed the younger boy up the giant staircase and down a long hallway. When they stopped outside of a door, Mokuba pulled a glistening silver key out of his pocket. If Jou had held on to his colour-coded map, he would have seen that they were standing outside of Seto's office, one of the few rooms he hadn't explored.

When Mokuba finally got the door open, Jou had to admit he was a little shocked. He wasn't exactly sure what he had been expecting Seto's workplace to look like, but what he saw caught him off guard.

He supposed because every other room in the mansion was gigantic, this one would be too. Instead it was small and fairly cluttered. The only pieces of furniture in the room were a large, old desk, a small filing cabinet and a very lived-in looking chair. The floor was barely visible under all the half made electronics, tools and random electric scraps. Mokuba lead Jou past all the clutter right up to the surprisingly clean desk. There were pens and papers on the top, but otherwise nothing.

"When I got home on Tuesday he had locked himself in here and only came out to go to the washroom. I had to send food up to him and just keep knocking until he came to take it in there. He was in there day and night with the door lock until early this morning. When I woke up, his laptop and cell phone were on my bedside table with a note that just said he had to leave for a bit. When I went looking through the mansion for him, I found his office was open, so I looked for clues to where he might have gone. That's when I found this." Mokuba pulled open a drawer. "I have more phone calls to make, please tell me if you find anything about where he's gone." And with that Mokuba left Jou staring at a drawer stuffed full of letters addressed to him.

xXx

It had happened every night since Sunday. He'd start off with one of his basic nightmares and it would abruptly change in the middle to some sort of romp between Jou and himself, and tonight was no different.

Tonight's dream didn't take place in the bedroom, but in the hall. He'd just walked in through the door, coming home from picking up his brother when Gozabaro appeared in front of him, with a lustful look on his face.

'Mokuba, why don't you go upstairs to the games room, there's a surprise in there for you." The boy in question nodded enthusiastically as he gave his brother a hug and ran off to find his present. The two remaining males were silent until they heard the young boys excited squeals of delight.

"down" was the command Seto got as he was shoved to his knees. Even though he landed with bruising impact, he didn't make a noise. The pain would be far worse if he did. He stayed kneeling even as his foster father left the room for a short time and came back with a small wooden chest.

"Now boy, tonight you'll be greeting the guests as they come in." the man said as he walked behind his kneeling son. "So we can't have you trying to leave the hall, even if one of the guests asks you nicely, so you understand the need for precaution." He said as he cuffed Seto's wrists to their opposite ankle, forcing Seto to remain in a very uncomfortable kneeling position. "and we don't want you accidentally hurting and of our guest if you get tired." was the reasoning for jaw-opener shoved in his mouth. 'And lets not forget that you must look appealing. And with that, Seto's shirt was ripped open and his pants were undone and awkwardly lowered to his knees. "Almost perfect" the older man muttered as he reached once more into the wooden chest, taking out some nipple clamps and an elaborate cock ring.

When the guest started arriving, Seto's nipples were trapped in the bruising pressure of tiny C-clamps and his aching shaft and balls were restrained in numerous small leather belts. He wide open mouth was abused by every patron who walked through the door, and out of the corner of his eye, Seto saw the exchange of money, meaning there would be more of this treatment later.

Then it changed. He was still in the hall, kneeling and sucking some one off, but suddenly his jaw wasn't being forced open, and he was no longer being restrained. He also noticed there was a pair of hands buried deep in his hair, pushing his face into the body in front of him, and he was happy to let this all happen.

When the stranger came in his mouth, Seto happily swallowed it all down, and was lifted into a bruising kiss. Idly, in the back of his mind, he thought he was going to be very bruised the next day. When the kiss ended, Seto had opened his eyes to find himself staring into a familiar pair of playful brown eyes. "So Seto, what do ya say we take care of your little problem?" The blonde said giving a rough squeeze to Seto's no longer encased erection.

It was then that Seto woke up, with a shout of "JOU!" and cumming quite hard.

That was the first time that had ever happened. Usually he woke up right before that, and had a cold shower and tried to forget about it all by burying himself in his work, but not today. He couldn't, he had to get out, to get away from there. He needed to leave, to not have to deal with this. With anything. Silently he snuck into his brother's room and left his phone and laptop, the only ways anyone had to contact him. Then he went outside and ran. Seeing that it was 4 in the morning at the time, no one was on the streets. This worked nicely for Seto, he didn't want anyone to know what he was doing. Normally he's head to his spot in the woods, but that was where he went to think, and right now that was the last thing he wanted to do. He wanted to clear his mind completely, and there was only one way he knew how to do that, but unfortunately, it wasn't the right time. He'd have to wait a little longer.

xXx

Jou had gone through almost all of the envelopes. So far, not of the letters were finished. Most of them were just there very beginning, some only made it as far as "Dear Jounouchi" when they ended. After going through a few more, he reached the last one. Just by looking at the envelope he knew this one was different. For one thing, it was addressed, stamped and sealed. It was very crinkled and looked as though it had been shoved straight to the back of the drawer, which is probably what had happened to it. With shaking hands, Jou opened the envelope.

"Jou

"Why? Why are you in my head? You of all people. I don't understand it. No one has ever affected me like this. I never think about people unless there's a reason. The only person who is always in my thoughts on some level is Mokuba, but somehow you have infiltrated my minds barriers. Sure you get on my nerves like no one else, but it was always out of site out of mind. If you weren't around, you can trust I wouldn't give you a second thought. But then Mokuba asked for that damn favor, and suddenly, I can't get rid of you, and I don't understand why.

"Why now of all times, and why you of all people. It doesn't make logical sense, and trust me, I have tried to figure it out. I have looked at this problem from every angle, and I'm no closer to and answer as I was before. So I need to not think. I need to get away and not think anymore. Because I can't. My head hurts, I'm confused and I've never felt this way before. So I have to end it.

"Why you? It plagues me, night and day, no matter where I am or what I'm doing. So this is the end. It can't go on, and it won't if I have anything to do with it. I have to go. Goodbye."

And that was it. No from Seto, no indication on what exactly the brunette was planning to do, it just ended. To Jou it read an awful lot like a suicide note. "Dammit" he said quietly to himself, and ran to find Mokuba.

xXx

Seto was in a park. He had no idea where this park was, but it was far from his home and school and work, so he didn't care. There was very little chance that he would run into anyone he knew personally, and although he was recognized everywhere he went, the people here were leaving him alone.

Seto was currently sitting in a swing on a rusty set, lightly pushing himself back and fourth, listening to it squeak of the old chain. He remembered his father taking him and Mokuba to a park like this a long time ago. While his brother had gone on all the equipment, he had stayed on the swing the whole time, watching his father chase his younger brother around. When his father had tried to convince him to join them, he had declined the offer, insisting he like the swings best. When his father had asked why, he clearly remembered answering simply "I wanna touch the sky daddy."

Smiling at the memory, Seto started pumping his legs, kicking off from the ground whenever he could. Soon, his momentum was shaking the whole set, but he didn't care. I felt so nice to have the wind flowing through his hair, and when he reached the highest he could, which didn't seem as high as it used to, he convinced himself that he really could reach the sky, if he just tried hard enough, so with a few more powerful pumps to get himself as high as he could, he jumped, arms and legs flailing, with nothing to support him, he was suspended in a free fall for a couple seconds, but they lasted forever. He landed awkwardly, collapsing on his ankle and tearing a knee of his pants, but he didn't care. He had forgotten what it was like to just let go and have some fun. With a smile on his lips, he ran over to the jungle gym.

xXx

Mokuba's eyes filled with tears as he read the letter for the fourth time. Jou was trying desperately to calm him down. "Now Mokuba, we don't know for sure that it's a suicide note. It was just a theory. It could mean anything. Maybe he just went on vacation for a bit." He said, looking pleadingly at the younger boy. "Seto never goes on vacation" the younger boy said in a dead voice. "Well, maybe he's had a change of heart. Listen, it's still important that we find him. I mean, maybe he's out there, waiting for someone to stop him." Jou tried, trying to think of anything to cheer the boy up. 'Or maybe they're waiting for me to identify the body" the younger boy sighed. Jou just looked at him.

After a few moments of silence Jou tried a new tactic. "Mokuba, why don't you call the police? Maybe they've heard something. And they can go out and search for him." Mokuba seemed to agree, but gave no indication other then dialing. I'm gonna go get something to eat. It looks like you haven't eaten all day." As Jou made his way into the kitchen, he could hear the murmur of Mokuba's voice as he talked to the police. Just as he was looking for a tray to bring the food and drinks back into the living room, he could hear Mokuba's voice getting louder and louder. When he finally made it to the room, he heard the younger yell into the phone "No, you don't understand! My brother could be DEAD!"

xXx

Seto couldn't remember that last time he'd felt so alive. He'd spent all day out, just having fun. He'd played in that park, then gone shopping, and now he was just sitting in a quite garden doing nothing. Well, almost nothing. All day he had been plagued with that thought that these things would be more fun if he had someone else to share them with. Like Mokuba. He wondered if his brother was worried about him. He hoped not. He planned on being home bright and early the next morning to explain a few things to his brother. Things about himself.

He tried to keep thinking of Mokuba because if he didn't his mind would sneak in thoughts that this might be even more fun if Jou was there with him. An idea he had been running away from all week. He sighed. There was just no way he wouldn't not be able to think about that boy. Well, there was one way. A tried and true method. He checked the time, then his wallet, and realized a lot of time had passed and he had somewhere to be.

xXx

Jou looked at the clock and realized he had to go. He had almost forgotten he had work that night. "Mokuba, I have to go to work, and it's too late to call in sick. Are you gonna be okay here alone for a few hours. I'll come back as soon as I can, see if I can't get off early."

"It's ok Jou, I'll be fine by myself. I'll call you if I find out anything." The boy replied with a tired smile.

Jou ran all the way to work. He was still out of breath when he started waiting on customers. He was also distracted. He couldn't help thinking about Seto. Was he alright, was he dead in a gutter, would he ever see him again. About two hours into his shift, the manager came and asked him if anything was wrong. "You seem a little distracted." Jou assured him he was fine, and forced all thoughts of the brunette out of his mind. This worked for a bit. He immersed himself in his work, doing his best to serve everyone with a grin.

Then it happened. Yumi's voice came on over the speakers "Eye's to the front everyone" was all she said. There was confusion in the club. The front stage was dark, and only the first chords of a song could be heard. The suddenly, with a loud clash of the drums, all the lights went on, and a single figure was displayed. Jou dropped his tray.

"S…Seto?"

xXx

Happy New Year! Please, I'd appreciate nice reviews to start off this New Year! I'm aiming for Jou's birthday for the next chapter. Fingers crossed.


	12. In the club

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOU! He's a new chapter for you all. I hope you enjoy it!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Jou couldn't help staring at the lone figure on the stage. Tonight Seto was dressed in a dark red number, with pants that looked as though they were painted on, and a barely there fishnet tank top. Tonight's accessories were scarce. Just a pair of fingerless gloves, a collar and the mask from before, all black. Jou swiped at his mouth with the back of his hand to remove the drool that had gathered there.

Once again, Seto's body moved fluidly to the music. Jou was absolutely mesmerized by the lean figure, and could have watched him forever, if he didn't have a nagging feeling he was needed. It soon turned out that that nagging feeling wasn't just a feeling. One of his co-workers was calling his name. "is everything alright?" The other waiter said with a glance to the mess on the floor from Jou's dropped tray. Jou smiled sheepishly back, turning bright red. The other waiter looked from Jou to the stage, then back again. A sly smile spread across his face. "don't worry about it man, he has that effect on people. I'll go get the broom."

Jou cleaned up the broken dishes while Seto was finishing his number. He was incredibly disappointed to find that the brunette had disappeared while he was putting the supplies away. He had really been hoping to talk to him. And do a few other things with him, things that involved being naked… But primarily talking to him.

During his half hour break, Jou called Mokubu to let him know that Seto was alive. When the younger Kaiba asked how he knew, Jou hastily explained that had seen the billionaire walking by, but he had been working so there was no chance for him to talk to him. The younger Kaiba was incredibly relieved to hear that his brother was okay and let Jou get back to his work.

The rest of the night was fairly uneventful. While serving the tables, Jou made a Vow in his head that the next time he saw the CEO of Kaiba Corp. he wouldn't be afraid to ask all his questions. Unless of course, he was on the stage. Then, purely out of respect, he would let the taller boy finish his number before hounding him.

"He's Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!" Suddenly came over the loudspeakers and the club lights dimmed once more. Jou's heart rate went crazy. It was almost the end of his shift, so if he finished up very quickly, he could catch Kaiba before he left the club. With that in mind he went about cleaning his few remaining tables. But still through his flurry of working, Jou managed a quick glance up to the stage.

Kaiba had changed for this number. What he was clothed in could be best described as Lingerie. He still had the mask, collar and fingerless gloves on, but instead of the dark red pants and tank top, he wore a bright navy blue corset and black short shorts. He also wore black, knee-high boots with navy blue highlights that matched his top perfectly and black fishnets that showcased his long, slender legs. Needless to say all Jou's thought processes ground to a halt as he stared up at the stage.

He soon remembered that he was supposed to be hurrying so he could talk to that seductive CEO so he forced himself to tear his eyes off the stage and get back to work. Exactly three minutes later, as Jou was just putting the last dishes in the dishwasher, Jou was cornered by his boss.

" Jounouchi! Great job you've been doing so far! Yumi has never spoken so highly of one of our waiters before. Keep up the great work! Oh, and if you ever need a favour, don't hesitate to ask. I remember when I was a waiter, I always strained to get compliments from my boss, but he never said a thing. Not one single "good job boy" or "Great work today" or "I love you son" Nothing was ever good enough for that man. That's why I always compliment my workers. And tell my kids I love them. Oh, but look at the time! You get off now don't you. I'm probably keeping you from that special someone. Well, go on you, get out of here!" And the man left, leaving a very confused blonde behind.

It was after he had his coat back on and was slinging his backpack over his shoulder that Jou remembered he was supposed to be hurrying in order to catch Seto. He made a mad dash back to the front room, only to be greeted with the sound of dying applause and an empty stage.

For a moment he just stood there feeling sorry for himself. He'd lost Seto. What if something really did happen? Then it would be his fault. A quick movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Yumi was waving at him, signaling for him to come over. He dashed across the room to the DJ, who met him with a sly smile on her lips. "He just went out the back door. I bet you could catch him if you were real quick" She said.

Before she even finished her sentence, Jou was rushing towards the door. A quick "Thanks Yumi!" was called over his shoulder as he weaved through the crowd.

xXx

Seto let out a blissful sigh as he climbed off the stage. That had been exactly what he needed. All the tension he had been holding in was completely gone. He knew this new found freedom wouldn't last for more then a day or tow, but hopefully by then he'd be able to function normally again once more. Besides, for right now he was enjoying how it felt to have that huge weight lifted off his shoulder.

He had just got outside into the cool night air of the alleyway behind the club when someone grabbed his shoulder. Still too relaxed to act as he normally would, Seto turned to face the stranger with a small smile on his lips.

"Hey sexy. I liked your moves up on stage. How about you come home with me for a private performance?' the stranger asked with a lustful glint in his eye. Seto took stock of his current, slightly unwanted companion. He was about an inch taller then Seto himself at 6'2" and was slightly muscular. He had deep brown eyes and greasy black hair. In his hand he held a half gone cigarette. He also reeked of alcohol. "No thanks, I don't go home with customers." Seto replied, trying to be polite as possible.

The stranger was persistent. "Awww, common, I bet I could teach you a few new moves" he said with a lecherous wink. "I said no thanks!" Seto said louder, hoping the drunken man would get the message.

He didn't.

Very suddenly, the CEO found himself being shoved against the brick wall of the club. "Let's be honest here. My asking was just a formality. We both know I could take it from you anyway. And since you refused my kind offer twice, I guess that' what I have to do."

One of the stranger's hands was shoved over Seto's mouth bringing the burning end of the cigarette dangerously close the brunettes face. The man's other hand was working on untying the string that held Seto's corset one. Seto tried to shove the man off, but he didn't have the strength. "Gods, you certainly know how to get a man all hot and bothered." The stranger said as he shoved one of his legs between Seto's thighs. The smaller brunette whimpered as the strangers leg brushed against his leather clad regions.

Apparently Seto's attacker grew tired of the CEO's pathetic attempts to struggle free, because he took the hand that had been over Seto's mouth and used it to hold the younger boy's hands above his head.

Somewhere, lost in Seto's brain, the idea to scream was floating around, but all that left his mouth were whispered pleas of "Please don't do this." The man just smirked and said. "Now don't worry little thing. This'll be over before you know it." Silent tears began to stream down Seto's face. "Oh, none of that now, I can make you feel all better" The stranger said as Seto felt the hand that wasn't holding his wrists travel down to cup his bulge. "See, you're getting excited already" The man said as he fondled the organ under his hand.

Seto was terrified. It was true that he had been through much worse at a much younger age, but that was before. Since Gozaburo's death, Seto had never been forced into any unwanted situations. Also, when his foster father was alive, there was some control. Seto had been forced into many painful and humiliating situations, but his foster father would never allow any permanent damage to his son. Here in the alley, Seto had no such reassurances.

Seto heard the back door of the club crash open somewhere on his right. He would have sagged in relief if he hadn't been too terrified to move. All he knew was that someone was here and they could help him.

"Hey man, did you happen to see a really hot brun- oh, sorry, didn't realize you were busy. Don't mind me." For a brief moment, Seto panicked. He couldn't let that Mutt see him in such a compromising position. He'd never live it down. But then the stranger ground their hips together and Seto knew he needed help. "Jou!" He called out desperately.

xXx

Jou was just about to head back into the club, resigned that Seto was long gone, when he heard his name called. In the missing CEO's voice no less.

Jou turned to look at the couple on the wall again. The one pressed against the brick did bare a striking resemblance to Seto, but he couldn't be sure it was he.

It was when the pinned boy looked at him, his blue eyes full of fear and pleading, but mostly a challenge, that Jou knew it was Seto. Even trough the shadows of the alley, he could recognize those eyes.

"Hey man, get off him!" The blonde said, using all his strength to pull the bigger man off Seto. The man spun around glaring at Jou. "Hey kid, I got here first. But you can have him after!" he said with a smirk. Jou took a swing at him for that comment and hit him square in the jaw, and effectively knocking him backwards and completely off the brunette, who sagged to the ground.

"Oh, So you want a fight eh? Well fine!" The stranger said, tossing the butt of his cigarette at Jou. "I can take a puny runt like you!" He said, rushing forward and catching Jou off balance. The two crashed into the opposing wall. Jou was winded by the force of the impact, but still had some sense in him. Bringing his knee up sharply, he got the bigger man right in the family jewels and causing him to collapse.

With the stranger out of the way, Jou ran over to where Seto was hunched on the ground. "Hey Seto, are you ok?" He asked looking down at the taller boy. When that boy said nothing, Jou hunched down to his level. "What happened?" He asked. "Go away" was the soft reply he got. "Hey man, I just saved your ass. At least a thank you would be nice!" Once again he got no response. 'Why do I even bother?' He muttered to himself as he got up to leave. As he was leaving, he felt a soft tug on his pant leg, and looked to see that mighty CEO trying to prevent his departure. "I… thank you. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come along. It's just… I don't need help all that often. But I really am grateful."

Jou helped the other boy to his feet, which earned him a small smile. But that look was completely wiped off Seto's face as he glanced over the blondes shoulder. The stranger was getting up again.

"You little fucker! That was a cheap shot!" And he stumbled towards the two teens.

The story got a little fuzzy here when Seto and Jou had to talk to the authorities. The best bet as to what had happened was that when the stranger had flicked his cigarette away, it had landed in Jou's backpack, and started a small fire that had singed some of Jou's homework. The fire had set off the wick of a firework that Jou had forgotten, and just as the stranger tried to charge the two boys, the firework had exploded, lighting the whole alley and heading straight towards the stranger. All Jou and Seto could remember was that there was a bright light, and then the man was screaming with a portion of his hair on fire.

Once the police were done questioning them, Jou took Seto aside. The taller boy was shaking badly, and he couldn't quite calm down enough to put his clothes back in order. Jou noticed his fly was still undone. "Here, let me help you with that." He said, swatting the unsteady hands away as he easily (but with a very noticeable blush on his face) did up the zipper. Seto was avoiding eye contact with him after that. Jou figured he was probably embarrassed. He hadn't been wearing underwear, after all. "Hey Seto, why don't we get a coffee and you can call your brother." He suggested, gesturing to a café across the street. "He's been really worried about you." Seto nodded and allowed himself to be lead in the safety of Jou's arms.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I'm thinking the next chapter will be that last one, and it will be extra long, and it will answer all you're questions and it will most definitely contain a lemon. But between whom?

Pleas review


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